Legendary Concerts That Took Place in Istanbul

Before the pandemic started, many stars chose Istanbul as one of their stops for their world tours. Istanbul is a highly known city all around the world and pop stars to rock bands added Istanbul to their tour list and made their Turkish fans very happy. Here are some legendary concerts that took place in Istanbul.

Lady Gaga

World-famous star Lady Gaga held her first-ever Turkey concert in Istanbul on September 16 in 2014. Istanbul was the first stop of the Europe leg of Gaga’s Artrave: the Artpop Ball tour. The tour was the worldwide promotion for her third studio album Artpop. The concert was held at ITU Stadium with over 25.000 audiences. Many Lady Gaga fans showed up at the concert in different costumes that made the concert very interesting to the public. Gaga performed more than 20 songs at the concert, and her dress-changing moment was the highlight of it.

Shakira

Shakira also held one of the most legendary concerts in Istanbul. She visited Istanbul for her El Dorado World Tour. The concert was held at Vodafone Park, and Shakira performed her greatest hits and her latest songs. She performed for 35.000 people, including Turkish musicians and actors like Kenan Doğulu, Beren Saat, Ezgi Mola. Shakira stated that if this would have been her last concert for the world tour, she would have stayed in Istanbul longer.

OneRepublic

One of the legendary concerts in Turkey was the American pop-rock band OneRepublic’s show in Istanbul. It was their first time in Turkey, and the concert was held on May 30 in 2015. The location for the concert was a great choice: Volkswagen Arena. The sound system and the atmosphere were quite fascinating that the band decided to rent a studio in Istanbul after the concert. The frontman of the band, Ryan Tedder’s live vocals were so impressive that the people who went to this concert in 2015 still talk about the beauty of his vocals to this day.

Imagine Dragons

The Evolve World Tour was the third concert tour by American pop-rock band Imagine Dragons for their third studio album: Evolve. It was Imagine Dragons' first time in Turkey. They held the concert at Küçükçiftlik Park in Beşiktaş. The open-air concert took five hours. Sertab Erener’s rock band Oceans of Noise and the English indie rock band Vaccines were the opening concerts for Imagine Dragons. The band performed 19 songs, including their worldwide hits Radioactive, Believer, and Demons.